Making a Pumpkin Face – Customize in Photoshop

3.1 Customize in Photoshop

We are going to get inspiration to design the pumpkin head from this image which is not copyrighted.

We encourage you to use a different design. Find the one that fits best with your style.

To customize your own pumpkin head, we have provided you with 2 colored textures, 2 gray shadow maps, and 2 wire maps. In this guide, we will use the following ones:

Let’s start!

To see the colored texture and the wire map above it, change the Blend Mode (Layers Tab) value.

To draw a face, let’s create a layer between the wire map and the colored texture layers. Initially, this layer will contain the eyes and nose.

  ○ Drawing the eyes and nose

1. Make sure that the Foreground Color is set to black and the Background Color is set to white.

   In this case, the Foreground and Background Colors are set to black and white respectively already.

   

   You can set the Foreground Color to black and the Background Color to white, by following the next steps:

   • Set Foreground Color to black
     • Click on the Foreground Color icon.
       
     • A new window opens and a pallet of colors is displayed.
     • Enter in the HTML Notation field the value 000000 and click OK.
       
   • Set Background Color to white
     • Click on the Background Color icon.
       
     • A new window opens and a pallet of colors is displayed.
     • Enter in the HTML Notation field the value ffffff and click OK.
       

2. Make three triangular sections (eyes and nose) by using the Polygonal Lasso Tool .

   Polygonal Lasso Tool

   The Polygonal Lasso Tool lets you to draw freeform selection outlines based on straight-sided polygonal shapes.
   
   The Polygonal Lasso Tool is grouped with the Lasso Tool in the toolbar. If you cannot find it, click and hold the Lasso Tool to access it.
   

   Let’s start by doing the left eye.

   You can use the Zoom Tool to magnify or reduce the view of the texture.

   Ensure that the “Eyes+Nose” layer is selected and click on the Polygonal Lasso Tool .

   

   The wire map layer is our guide to draw the triangular sections.

   Once the Polygonal Lasso Tool is selected, draw the left eye following the next sequence:

   • click and draw a line
   • click and draw a line from the end of the last line you drew
   • click and draw a line that meets the first dot you drew

   Let’s fill the triangular section with solid black color by selecting the Paint Bucket Tool .

   The Paint Bucket Tool is grouped with the Gradient Tool in the toolbar. If you cannot find it, click and hold the Gradient Tool to access it.

   • Make sure that “Eyes+Nose” layer is selected.
   • Click on the Paint Bucket Tool

   
   

   • Move the mouse over the triangular section (the left eye).
   • Click on it.

   
   

   Repeat the same steps to create and fill the right eye and the nose.

   

  ○ Drawing the mouth

Just a few more steps and the pumpkin face will be ready!

1. Let’s change the name of the layer.

   • Double-click on the current name of the “Eyes+Nose” layer.
   • Set the name of the layer to “Eyes+Nose+Mouth”. In this way, you know that this layer is related to the eyes, nose, and mouth of the pumpkin.

   

2. Ensure that the “Eyes+Nose+Mouth” layer is selected and click on the Lasso Tool .

   Lasso Tool

   The Lasso Tool allows you drawing freeform segments of a selection border.
   
   The Lasso Tool is grouped with the Polygonal Lasso Tool in the toolbar. If you cannot find it, click and hold the Polygonal Lasso Tool to access it.
   

   

   The wire map layer is our guide to draw the mouth.

   Once the Lasso Tool is selected, draw the mouth following the next sequence:

   • click and draw the bottom part of the mouth
   • once you are done drawing the bottom part of the mouth, stop holding the mouse button and you will see that a straight line is drawn from the first dot you drew to the last one

3. Let’s fill the mouth with solid black color by selecting the Paint Bucket Tool .

   • Click on the Paint Bucket Tool
   • Make sure that “Eyes+Nose+Mouth” layer is selected.

   
   

   • Move the mouse over the mouth.
   • Click on it.

   

4. It is time for teeth creation!

   Select the Rectangular Marquee Tool   in the toolbar to draw the teeth and hide the wire map layer to have a better visibility by clicking on the eye icon .

   
   
   Rectangle Marquee Tool

   The Rectangle Select Tool  lets you makes a rectangular or square selection.

5. • Using the Rectangular Marquee Tool  , select an area that looks like a tooth.
   • You can position the tooth wherever you want by clicking on the selection you created and dragging it.

   

6. • Click on the Eraser Tool to remove the color of the area selected, that is to say, to remove the black color.
   • Once the Eraser Tool is selected, remove the black color of it by clicking on the area and dragging the mouse over the selected area until the black color disappears.
   • You can also erase the content of the area selected by pressing the “delete” key on your keyboard.

   
   
   Eraser Tool

   The Eraser Tool   removes areas of color from a selection of the current layer or from the current layer.

   Repeat the same steps to create as many teeth as you want.

   

  ○ Bringing in the symmetry (Optional)

This is not a required step but some of you might want their designs to be perfectly symmetrical. If you don’t want that, you can gladly skip this step.

Let’s add symmetry to the pumpkin face.

1. • Make sure the wire map layer is visible again by clicking on the eye icon .

   • Use the wire map as a guide to know where the middle of the face is.

   • Click on the Rectangular Marquee Tool   and select the side of the face you like less.

   

2. • Select the Eraser Tool .
   • Click on the selected area and drag the mouse until removing its content.

   

3. • Duplicate the “Eyes+Nose+Mouth” layer. To do so, right-click on the layer.
   • A menu pops up.
   • Select the “Duplicate Layer…” option.

   

   The Duplicate Layer window pops up.

   
   

   Click OK.

   

4. • Make sure that the duplicated layer (“Eyes+Nose+Mouth copy” layer) is selected.
   • Go to the top menu and click on Edit ➞ Transform ➞ Flip Horizontal

   The half face has flipped.

   

5. Let’s position the flipped “Eyes+Nose+Mouth copy” layer to get a symmetric face.

   To do so, go to the top menu and click on Edit ➞ Transform ➞ Rotate

   

   • Move the half face selected to the right until getting a symmetric face.
   • When the face is set, either click the check box at the top or press the “enter” key on your keyboard to apply the changes.

   

6. Now that the right half face and the left half face are symmetric respectively, it is time to merge both layers into one layer.

   • To do so, right-click on the “Eyes+Nose+Mouth copy” layer (the duplicated layer).
   • A menu pops up.
   • Select the “Merge Down” option.

   

  ○ Scaling the pumpkin face

Let’s reduce the size of the face in order to fit properly in the pumpkin.

1. • Ensure that the “Eyes+Nose+Mouth” layer is selected.
   • Go to the top menu and click on Edit ➞ Transform ➞ Scale

   

2. Eight square anchor points appear around the face. The face can be resized by dragging any of the anchor points.

   There is a menu on the top.

   • Set the values of H (height) and W (width) to 60% and use the wire map to guide you to center the face as much as possible.
   • When the face is set, either click the check box at the top or press the “enter” key on your keyboard to apply the changes.

   

  ○ Adding details and depth to the pumpkin face

Let’s add more detail and depth to the pumpkin face. We will add a drop shadow to the eyes, nose, and mouth.

1. Let’s duplicate the “Eyes+Nose+Mouth” layer. We will work with the original layer and keep the copy. If someday we want to work on the pumpkin face again, it is a good a idea to save a copy of the layer.

   • To do so, right-click on the layer.
   • A menu pops up.
   • Select the “Duplicate Layer…” option.

   

   The Duplicate Layer window pops up.

   
   

   Click OK.

   

2. • Hide all layers except the “Eyes+Nose+Mouth” and colored texture layers.
   • Make sure that the “Eyes+Nose+Mouth” layer is selected.
   • Click on Add a layer style  .
   • A menu appears.
   • Select the Drop Shadow… option.

   

   The Layer Style window will pop up.

3. Assure that the Drop Shadow field is checked.

   

   We recommend you to experiment with the values and see what works best for you. However, you can choose the ones used in the image below as a reference.

   

   Once you have set the values, click OK.

   

  ○ Saving the pumpkin face

CONGRATULATIONS! The pumpkin face is ready!

Let’s save it.

1. • Save the changes by going to the top menu and clicking on File ➞ Save As …
   • Select the folder where you want to save the pumpkin face texture, name the texture, and click on Format.
   • A window pops up.
   • Select JPEG and click on the Save button.

   

2. A new window pops up.

   Click OK.

   

The new texture has been saved in your chosen folder.